1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knife having a foldable blade. More specifically, the present invention relates to the improvement of the knife's portability and attachability to other objects, such as a belt, other objects of clothing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Of the various types of knives found in the prior art, one type is the common pocket knife. A description of this type of knife is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 52-58600, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 58-84070 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-44289. In each case, the general construction of the pocket knife is, as shown in FIG. 13, such that a blade 63, extends from a handle 62 and is foldable with respect to the handle 62. When the blade 63 is folded, the size of this knife 61 is relatively compact and portable, with the entire knife 61 being roughly equal is size to that of the handle 62. The knife 61 is usually carried by placing the folded or closed knife 61 in a pocket of a shirt, a pair of pants or similar article of clothing. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 14, a special-purpose case 65, having a freely opening cover 64, can be attached to a pair of pants 66 or a belt 67 in the vicinity of the user's waist.
With the case 65 attached at the knife user's waist, the location of the case 65 is close to the user's hands (assuming a normal upright posture of the user). Consequently, the knife 61 when placed in the case 65 can be easily be taken out for quick use. Moreover, since the case 65 is worn on the waist, the case 65 tends not to impair the movement of the knife user, thereby improving the portability of the knife 61.
To enjoy this type of portability, however, the case 65 is obviously required as an item separate from the knife 61. Moreover, it is necessary to go to the trouble of wearing the case 65 on the pants 66 or the belt 67. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a knife having a degree of portability similar to that provided by the case 65 without the inconvenience of either attaching the case 65 to the waist, or even of having a case 65 at all. It would likewise be desirable that such a knife be compact in size, as is characteristic of many pocket knives.
A defining feature of such a knife would be the means for attaching a hook or the like to the pocket knife itself, as well as the means for directly hooking the knife to the person's pants, belt loop or other article of clothing. A further important feature of such a knife would be the ease with which the hook, as a component of the knife, could be manufactured and assembled. Still another important feature would be the ease of removing the hook from the knife.
For example, as with the conventional knife as shown in FIG. 13, the knife's manufacture and assembly requires an relatively precise process for aligning or positioning the hook on the handle. This effectively requires the addition of a step or process in the manufacture and assembly of the conventional pocket knife. Moreover, should the hook of the pocket knife be undetatchable from the knife, and should either the hook or knife component need repair, it is entirely possible that any repair of the hook or knife may damage the attached component. Further, when the hook is damaged and needs repair, it is a major disadvantage to have to disassemble if the knife body in order to repair the hook. It is consequently desirable in terms of manufacturing and repair that the knife body be detachable from the hook.